Given the growing interest in the use of natural products of medicinal and food industries in the global healthcare debates, Iranian people, officials, and industries have increasingly considered the benefits of medicinal herbs and significance of integrating traditional medicine into modern healthcare system and supporting it. Iran enjoys 8000 herb species, 2500 species with medicinal properties and applications as spice, fragrance, and cosmetics, and has a rich heritage of traditional medicine with over 14000 reference books and elegant works such as Avicenna’s Canon of Medicine and Book of Healing, Al-Razi’s Al-Havi, and Zakhireh-i Kharazmshahi. Hence, the urgency of extensive fundamental measures for developing this area now is quite obvious. Recognizing the importance of medicinal plants and traditional medicine and in line with global trend, the Islamic Republic of Iran has launched a range of systematic measures for better exploitation of this realm.

Medicinal Plants and Traditional Medicine